Report: Industrial enzymes market to hit US$3.9 billion

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Industrial Enzymes markets. Global market for Industrial Enzymes is projected to reach US$3.9 billion by the year 2017.

Growth will be primarily driven by expansion in application possibilities, rising demand from industries in developing countries, and stringent environmental clampdown on conventional chemicals and chemical processes.

Environmental concerns benefit enzyme sector
A part of the industrial biotechnology sector, also known as "White Biotechnology", industrial enzymes are produced and isolated from micro-organisms. The sector is poised to benefit from growing environmental concerns and increased government intervention the world over to curb the unchecked use of hazardous and environmentally harmful conventional petro-chemicals. Environmental legislation has and will continue to remain a prime driver for change and will aid in widening the use of industrial enzymes. The natural greening process underway in the manufacturing sector driven by sustainable production principles, also augurs well for the future of the market. For instance, in the upcoming years, the incremental adoption of bioprocesses into every aspect of industrial manufacturing will help turbo-charge growth further. A measure of the untapped potential in store is reflected by the encouraging growth in R&D investments witnessed till date. Several of the R&D projects are currently centered on indentifying enzymes from fungi and microbes such as cellulases. The biofuel industry will witness the maximum action in the R&D space in the upcoming years. The development of newer grades of next generation enzymes, such as Psychrozymes, will open up newer application areas for enzymes in addition to its existing use in food, feed, textile, leather, oils & fats, beverage alcohol and biofuel industries.

Animal feed enzyme technology
Recent developments in feed enzyme technology promises to provide a significant boost to the animal production market, including poultry production. Novel feed enzymes have been developed that are economical and eco-friendly posing least risk to the animals. The enzymes are usually mixed with wheat and barley feeds for poultry and animals. The enzymes offer plethora of advantages including low cost, low mortality rates, enhanced carcass output, and reduction in phosphorus and nitrogen release in the environment. The cosmetics industry is also singled out as one of the major drivers of industrial enzymes. The move towards natural ingredients in cosmetics is indicated by the rapid rise of the organic cosmetics sector. Also, the prevailing trend towards enhancing the use of natural actives in product development to meet both sustainable and responsible manufacturing requirements and consumer's growing awareness over the importance of preserving natural biodiversity, provides ample opportunities for natural enzymes at the expense of petrochemical based enzymes.

EU debt crisis effect on enzyme market
Market prospects for industrial enzymes are hugely dependent on the health of the industrial and manufacturing sector. The European debt crisis and its induced volatility in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), not surprisingly leaves the domestic industrial enzymes market nervous over the future playout of the crisis. EUs industrial sentiment currently remains torn between optimism and fear, given the mixed signals emanating from the volatile manufacturing data in Spain and Italy and the encouraging industrial performance in Germany. Bearish market sentiments indicate that an escalation in the euro crisis could precipitate a slowdown in the market. Also the shift from fiscal government stimulus to anti-crisis austerity and spending cuts as a measure to tame the towering public debt scenario could impact capital expenditure in manufacturing industries in debt affected economies by limiting borrowing and reducing investments in capital goods. Reduced ability of the government to fund capital expenditure can impact both domestic and foreign financed projects thus indirectly influencing spending on machinery solutions, plant utilization rates and production capacity expansion, which in turn will directly impact production and production raw materials and feedstocks such as, industrial enzymes.

However, despite the challenges and uncertainties, over the continued economic stability in Europe, most market indicators for the immediate-term future feature a largely positive outlook for the manufacturing industry in the year 2012. Also, the biotechnology industry in Europe continues to remain positive given the fact that applicable product development and reach in this sector is high, in light of the technology's potential to alter manufacturing processes for the better and reduce the 'carbon footprint' of production processes. The ability of enzymes to generate value across the production value chain is a key reason responsible for the optimism displayed by players in this market.

As stated by the new market research report on Industrial Enzymes, Europe represents the largest market worldwide. Asia-Pacific is forecast to emerge as the fastest growing market with a projected CAGR of 7.2% over the analysis period.